LeBron James eyes US$750m
FORMER Liverpool shareholder LeBron James is reportedly mulling over the US$750m (£542m) sale of one of his businesses. Basketball superstar James, who transferred his 2 percent in the Reds into one per cent of Liverpool owners Fenway Sports Group back in March following the restructuring that arrived on the back of the £538m investment from RedBird Capital Partners, is exploring the possibility of either receiving investment into or selling his SpringHill Co entertainment company that he runs with business partner and fellow FSG partner Maverick Carter.
Los Angeles Lakers star James (36) is, according to multiple reports in the US, ready to listen to offers for SpringHill Co, a firm that has consolidated the business interests of James and Carter through SpringHill Entertainment, Uninterrupted, and the Robot Co marketing agency, into one.
Reports suggest that among the interested parties in acquiring the business are Liverpool kit suppliers Nike, who have a lifetime $1bn deal with James.
Leveraging on the relationship between Refs fan James and Liverpool has been seen a key strategy to realising the value of the relationship between the club and the US sporting apparel giant, with the Reds receiving 20 percent royalties on the sale of all club merchandise globally.
SpringHill Co has a number of major projects in the works including the Space Jam: A New Legacy movie to be released later this month, where James takes on the lead role made famous by Michael Jordan in the original Space Jam film back in 1996.
The firm also has a number of key partnerships in the US through its links with ABC Studios, Universal, Netflix, and Audible, while a link-up with Epic Games, the makers of Fortnite, has been forged this past week with James to become an avatar in the hugely popular video game.
James remains a star on the court despite his advancing years but has shown an increasing desire to carve out a career in business that will take the driving seat once glittering playing career does come to an end.
James is serious when it comes to business and FSG view him as someone who could help bring fresh ideas to the table as well as putting capital to work in other areas if they so wish. Having such a potential windfall from the sale of SpringHill Co would provide James and Carter with more clout to inject further capital into new ventures, potentially ones that involve FSG and Liverpool.
Speaking on the Sporticast podcast earlier this year, Sportico editor Scott Soshnick commented: “It gets him into what John Henry is doing and what RedBird is doing. It brings him into a closed circle of folks who say ‘hey, there is an opportunity here’.
“That leads to opportunities and LeBron and Maverick can put their capital to work.
“I wrote a story years ago about why do people by one or two per cent of a sports team, and this was before valuations went up where even those numbers are high.
“Part of it was a training ground, and I heard that a lot. You buy a little piece just to dabble and see ‘OK, what really goes into this and is this something I want to pursue as a controlled person?’ This gives LeBron that sort of entree.” — Echo.